Kenya delays presidential vote in four opposition stronghold counties

The presidential election went ahead despite the failure of a Supreme Court hearing to rule on whether the imminent vote would be fair. Violent clashes between police and the opposition that boycott the vote left at least three dead.

A supporter of National Super Alliance (NASA) presidential candidate Raila Odinga hold a placard reading 'Baba (Odinga) your last word is final' during a political rally in Kenya's capital Nairobi on October 25, 2017 on the eve of the presidential re-run election.
AFP

A supporter of National Super Alliance (NASA) presidential candidate Raila Odinga hold a placard reading 'Baba (Odinga) your last word is final' during a political rally in Kenya's capital Nairobi on October 25, 2017 on the eve of the presidential re-run election.

Kenya's election commission said voting had been hampered by "security challenges" in a number of places where voting would be delayed until October 28.

Wafula Chebukati, head of the election commission, said areas where voting would be delayed included Homa Hay, Kisumu, Migori and Siaya - all in the opposition stronghold of western Kenya.

Kenyan police clashed with opposition supporters who burned barricades and blocked polling stations in a much contested presidential election re-run held Thursday. 

At least three people were shot dead according to police and hospital sources.

One man died after being shot in the forehead in Nairobi's Mathare slum, Drugnet hospital director Dickens Osimb said.

A second death was confirmed in Homa Bay in western Kenya, a police statement said. 

Earlier, police and hospital sources confirmed a 19-year-old had been shot dead in Kisumu, also in the west.

The repeat vote went ahead as a Supreme Court petition to stay the election failed on Wednesday. 

Opposition leader Raila Odinga called his supporters to boycott the vote, saying his coalition would be transformed into a resistance movement against the government, who he believes are involved in rigging elections.

Odinga wants new elections to be held within 90 days as he believes the election  commission has not yet made sufficient reforms after the Supreme Court annulled an earlier vote.

Kenyans voted in an August 8 election which led to a win for incumbent President Uhuru Kenyatta. But that vote was overturned by the nation's top court in an unprecedented ruling that unleashed the country's worst political crisis since 2007. 

Around 50 people have been killed, mostly by security forces, since the original vote. 

TRT World's Nicole Johnston reports from Nairobi.

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In the opposition stronghold city of Kisumu, stone-throwing youths heeding opposition leader Raila Odinga's call were met by live rounds, tear gas and water cannon. 

In the coastal city of Mombasa, protesters lit tyres and timber along the main highway. Some polling stations had not opened by 8am, and those that did had low turnout and four armed police on guard – double the number on duty last time.

"We are not staying home. We are protesting and ensuring there is no voting around this area," said Babangida Tumbo, 31.

A Kenyan election official said that not a single ballot box has been delivered to the 190 polling stations in central Kisumu, the country's third largest city.

John Ngutai Muyekho, a senior election official, on Thursday sat with the uncollected ballot boxes in a high school that was guarded by about 30 members of the security forces.

"If anyone comes to collect, I'm ready. But so far, no one has," Muyekho said.

Supporters of opposition leader Raila Odinga are boycotting the election, saying it is not credible. Many polling stations in opposition areas have not opened because of security concerns.

While tensions simmered in some opposition strongholds, in other areas the situation was calm.

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Interior minister Fred Matiangi told Citizen TV that polling stations opened in over 90 percent of the country, including Kiambu, where Kenyatta cast his ballot.

"It is my duty to vote. Last time the queue was all around the block, and I waited six hours to vote, this time the people are few," said taxi driver David Njeru, 26, as he waited to vote in Nairobi's Mathare slum.

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